Pneumatic lading discharge device



W. L. FLOEHR PNEUMATIC LADING DISCHARGE DEVICE F eb. 4, 1969 Filed June 28,. 19e? I n v e n t o r Walter L. Floehr Sheet www Feb. 4; 1969 w. L.. FLOEHR PNEUMATIC LADING DISCHARGE DEVICE Sheet Filed June 28, l1967 Invenor: Walter L.Floehr FIG. 8

FIG. 6

his Atorney United States Patent O 3,425,748 PNEUMATIC LADING DISCHARGE DEVCE Walter L. Floehr, Toledo, Ohio, assigner to Midland-Ross Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 28, 1967, Ser. No. 649,604 U.S. Cl. 302-52 11 Claims Int. Cl. B65g 65/40, 53/14 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for adapting `for pneumatically discharging Commnuted lading a railway car hopper equipped with a slide gate for gravity discharge through a bottom opening. The device has a multi-section tube extending through the hopper above the gate and requires for installation only cutting of holes in opposite sides of the hopper for passing the tubes end sections. Suction passes a stream of air through the tube and at least partly feeds lading from below into the tube and adjustable valving enables the rate of feed of the lading and flow of the air to be regulated.

Background of the invention While a number of covered hopper cars now in service are fitted for pneumatically discharging comminuted lading, the great majority of such cars are adapted only for gravity discharge through openings normally closed by slide gates and to adapt them for efficient' pneumatic discharge in any way now proposed is both diflicult and eX- pensive. Itis with this problem that the present invention is primarily concerned.

Objects of the invention The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for adapting for vacuum penumatic discharge of comminuted lading a railway car hopper equipped with a slide gate, which requires but a minor change in the hoppers structure and in the main is installable through the bottom discharge opening normally closed by the gate. The improved device adapts such as hopper for -vacuum pneumatic discharge by extending through the hopper above the gate a preferably horizontally disposed, multi-section tube whose center section, mounting one or more downwardly opening lading inlets, is installable through the discharge opening normally closed by the slide gate and end sections are slid into position through apertures cut in opposite side sheets of the hopper.

In the preferred device Ithe end sections are duplicates and have at their outer ends normally capped air ports useable interchangeably as inlet and outlet ports, each lading inlet is valved for varying the suction on comminuted lading fed by gravity from above onto an underlying upper surface of the slide gate, an air valve on each end section permits adjustment of the air How and both those valves and the valving of each lading inlet are `adjustable exteriorly of the hopper, the lading inlet valving through an end air port on removal of its cap.

Objects and advantages of the invention, other than the foregoing, will appear hereinafter in the detailed description, be particularly pointed out in the appended claims and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure description FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the improved pneumatic discharge device of the present invention applied to a slide gate-equipped railway car hopper shown in vertical section;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIGURE l;

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FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is ya fragmentary vertical sectional lview on an enlarged scale taken along lines 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary enlargement of an end portion of the structure of FIGURE 1 on the scale of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary and elevational View of the structure of FIGURE 5 FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view of the structure of FIGURE 5 taken along lines 7-7 of FIGURE 6, and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional yView on the scale of FIGURE 4 taken along lines 8-8 of FIG- URE 1.

Detailed description Referring now in detail to the drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts, the improved pneumatic discharge device of the present invention is applicable to either new or existing hoppers for adapting them for vacuum or subatmospheric or negative pressure pneumatic discharge of comminuted, finely divided or powdered lading or material. As the limit on the vacuum or negative pressure practically available for such `applications is on the order of l2 pounds per square inch, the improved device is useable primarily for discharging lower density comminuted materials, such as feeds, fertilizers, phosphates and grains.

The improved pneumatic discharge device, designated as 1, is particularly designed for installation in a hopper 2 of a covered railway hopper car (not otherwise shown) which is equipped for gravity discharge with a slide gate 3 slideable in a frame 4 lixed to the bottom of the hopper and driveable or shiftable by suitable means, such `as the indicated rack-and-pinion drive 5, for opening and closing a bottom discharge opening 6 for the hopper in the frame. Conventionally, both the disposition and direction of sliding of the gate 3 will be generally horizontal, as bets the gravity discharge for which it is designed.

The improved device 1 is comprised of a multi-'section tube or pipe 7 projecting or extending substantially horizontally through the lower portion of the hopper 2 above the level of the slide gate 3 and also preferably above that of the frame 4. The preferred tube 7 is cylindrical and made in three sections, one a center section 8 positioned or disposed within or contained in the hopper and the other, end sections 9 projecting or extending through apertures or openings 10 in opposite side -shee'ts 11 of the hopper. The end sections 9 are coaxial or concentric with and of the same diameter as Ithe center `section 8 and have their inner ends connected within 'the hopper to opposite ends of the center section, suitably by bell-andspigot joints 112. The center section 8 is designed and intended to be installed in the hopper 2 by being inserted from below through the discharge opening 6 with the gate 3 in open position and to be connected to the end sections 9 by sliding the latter from opposite sides into the hopper, each through the aperture 10 in the adjoining side sheet 11. In order that the apertures 10 need only -be of a size to slidingly receive or lt the end sections 9, the bells or bell mouths 13 of the joints 12 are formed on the ends of the center section `8 and the endl sections 9, over a't lea-st their portions projecting through the apertures, have their suitably cylindrical sides or side Walls '14 straight and uninterrupted. `Once the sections 8 and 9 are installed and Welded or otherwise iixed to or made rigid With each other, the improved device 1 will be supported through the end sections on the side sheets 11 and, if, as usual, the installation is to be permanent, the tube 7 may be fixed in position against axial shifting or displacement relative to the hopper, suitably by welding the end sections 9 to the side sheets 111 about the apertures 10, this also serving to seal the joint between the end sections and side sheets against entry of foreign matter.

The tube 7 receives the comminuated lading through one or more tubular inlets or inlet ducts `1'5 suitably projecting or extending radially from the center section and longitudinally aligned and spaced, if a plurality. Unless the conversion of the hopper 2 for pneumatic discharge is to involve changes in `it beyond the cutting of the apertures in the side sheets 11, each inlet duct 15 must open downwardly toward the upper face 16 of the slide gate `3 for pneumatic discharge of the entire content of the hopper. This, in turn, requires the lading to be lifted ythrough each inlet duct into the tube 7 and, as the only force the improved device 1 itself will make available for the lifting is suction generated by the asp'irating effect of the air flowing through the tube past each duct, the duct should be short and end a short distance above the slide gate. However, although a solid, the lading by virtue of its comminuation, will act somewhat like a liquid. Consequently, until the hopper is almost empty, the weight of the overlying lading will assist the suction applied through the tube in lifting or feeding the lading upwardly through an inlet duct into the center section.

For eicient operation, the cross-sectional area open at any time for entry of lading into the tube 7 should not exceed the inside cross-sectional area of the tube but can be concentrated in one or distributed among a plurality of inlets. As in the illustrated embodiment, a plurality 2 of inlets will ordinarily be preferred for satisfactory coverage .of the bottom area of the hopper. lt also is preferred that each inlet duct 15, as well as the tube 7, be circular in cross-section and of substantially the same inside area or diameter. LEven so, the area opened at any time through the inlet ducts 15 for entry of lading into the tube 7 is held Within the area of the tube by valving the inlets.

Offset laterally toward opposite sides of the gate 3 serving as the bottom of the hopper 2 and each substantially centered on its side, the illustrated pair of inlet ducts 15 are valved by a pair of circular bales or butterfly valves 17, each in and of substantially the diameter or cross-sectional area of one of the ducts. These baies 17 conveniently are mounted normal or at right angles to each lother on a common operating shaft 18 which extends longitudinally of the tube and is supported on the latters bottom and is `operated by a radially extending handle 19 xed to or rigid or integral with one or each of its ends. In the preferred device each handle 19 is positioned adjacent an adjoining end of the tube 7 but contained within the tube inside that end so as to be covered or enclosed against unwarranted operation when a cap 20 normally closing that end is in place. Although supported on the bottom of the tube 7, the operating shaft 18 is centered laterally on the inlet ducts 15 by and turns or rotates in a pair of bearings 21, each fixed to the bottom of one of the end sections 9 and conveniently formed by a pair of laterally spaced, radially u'pstanding or instanding ears 22 receiving or accommodating the shaft between them. For normally holding the shaft in its seats between the pairs of ears 22, without interfering with its application and removal, a spring clip 23 is removably fitted between each pair of ears above the shaft. The shaft with its fixed battles 17 and handles 19 is slideable into or out of either end of the tube 7 on removal of the spring clips 23 and one of the caps 20 and the angular disposition of each handle relative to the baffles and its length relative to the inside diameter of the tube preferably are such that the Ibaflles alternately close their inlets 15, each at one of the limits of swing of the handle imposed by engagement or contact of its free end with opposite sides of the tube.

Outside the hopper, the opposite ends 24 of the tube 7 at the outer ends of the end sections 9 are adapted to serve interchangeably as inlet and outlet ports, with a vacuum discharge line or hose (not shown) attached, usually exteriorly, to one and the other open to atmosphere for admitting the air required to produce an air stream through the tube under the negative force of the vacuum. While this will be the usual condition of the tube ports 24 during a pneumatic discharge operation, the ports should otherwise be closed and sealed against entry of foreign matter and this is the purpose of the caps 20. For receiving the related cap, each end section 9 has xed to the outside of its side wall 14 inwardly of its port 24, an annular ange 25 inwardly backing an annular or rubber or like elastic gasket 26 and having fixed to it a pair of diametrically opposed headed studs 27 outstanding from it parallel to or longitudinally of the tube 7 toward the adjoining port or end 24. Interlockable with the studs 27 to form in effect a bayonet lock are a pair of diametrically opposed wings 28 fixed to and radially outstanding from the cap 20 and each having an arcuate slot 29 concentric with the cap and of a width to accommodate the stern 30 of one of the studs. Each wing 28 has its slot 29 enlarged at one end and slopes outwardly from its corresponding end to a relatively bent seat or seat portion 32 at its opposite end which is disposed normal to the stud 27 and parallel to the flange 2S to which the stud is aflixed. Having a lip 33 on its inner end for sealing engagement with the related gasket 26, each cap 20 has fixed to its outer end 34 a conveniently flat, radially extending handle 35 to facilitate its turning.

Applied in a position to pass the heads 31 of the related studs 27 through the enlarged ends of the Slots 29 in its wings 28, each cap 29 is then turned to slide its wings under the heads of the studs and, by the outward slope of the wings, cam its lip 33 into sealing engagement with the gasket 26 until the point is reached Where the heads rest on the seats 32 and, by the disposition of the seats and resilience of the gasket, lock the cap in port-sealing position. Each cap preferably is chained against accidental loss to the adjoining mounting flange 25 and rings 36 conveniently are secured to the cap and ilange for receiving a conventional wire car seal (not shown) to `Warrant against tampering.

When a hopper car equipped with the improved device 1 reaches its destination, at least one of the caps 20 will be removed for coupling or connection of its port 24 to a vacuum discharge line leading to a suitable collector (not shown). Prior to applying the vacuum, the positions of the bales 17 will be noted through an end of the tube to determine whether any change is needed for proper regulation of the flow of the particular lading into the tube. Ordinarily, it will suice to have one inlet duct 15 open and the other closed, so long as the suction feed of the lading has a substantial gravity assist from the weight of the overlying lading above the bottoms of the inlet ducts. However, once this assist is lost, the area covered by a single inlet duct usually will be reduced and make it necessary ultimately to close the first and open the second duct in order to complete the discharge. Alternatively, the bales can be set initially to partly open both ducts and this setting usually will suice to com-plete the discharge, although ordinarily at a slower rate due to the lesser suction on the ducts. In either case, the lading, as it is progressively fed into the tube 7 from a duct, will meet and mix with the air stream flowing through the t/ube and carried by that stream from the tube to the collector.

With both of the caps 20 removed and one of the ports 24 connected to a vacuum discharge line and the other to atmosphere, the ow of air under negative pressure through the tube 7 will be at maximum, with consequent maximum suction on any then fully open inlet 15. However, there will be times when it is desired to reduce the tlow without changing the vacuum applied to the discharge end of the tube. For such a contingency, the side wall 14 of each end section 9 is radially ported intermediate its flange 25 and the adjoining side sheet 11 of the hopper 2, suitably by a plurality of circumferentially spaced rectangular ports 36. Normally, these radial ports 36 are closed by a rubber or like elastic sleeve or |boot 37 encircling the side wall 14 and clamped thereto beyond opposite ends of the ports, as by spring clamps 38. The sleeve 37 adjacent the then discharge end of the tube 7 will remain in that position during the discharge, but, with the port 24 at the opposite end of the tube closed by its cap 20, the sleeve 37 adjoining the latter port and its ports 36 can be used as a slide valve by sliding the sleeve from its closed position covering the radial ports, axially along the tube to partly or fully expose the radial ports and correspondingly regulate the inflow of air into the tube. The choking or throttling action derivable from the appropriate slide valve may be maintained or be removed at any time during a discharge operation, the latter by sliding the sleeve to closed position and removing the adjoining cap and, if displaced, the sleeve should always be returned to closed position at the end of the particular discharge operation to seal its ports 36 against entry of foreign matter.

From the above detailed description it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved device for adapting a hopper for a vacuum pneumatic discharge, which can be applied with a minimum of change in the hoppers structure and, when applied, enables both the feed of comminuted material into the air stream responsible for the discharge and the flow of the air readily to be regulated.

Having now 'described my invention, I claim:

1. A device for adapting for vacuum pneumatic discharge of comminuted lading a hopper having a normally closed bottom opening for gravity discharge, comprising a multi-section tube extending through the hopper and having a center section contained therein and insertable thereinto through said bottom opening and end sections extending through opposite sides thereof and supporting said center section, air ports in said end sections beyond the hopper connectable one to a vacuum discharge line and another to atmosphere for producing an air stream through said tube under a vacuum applied through said line, and downwardly opening inlet means on and projecting downwardly from said center section for admitting the comminuted lading into said tube in the path of the airstream.

2. A device according to claim 1, including valve means in the inlet means for regulating the admission of the lading into the tube.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the air ports are at opposite ends of the tube, and including caps for normally closing the ports.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein the hopper is equipped with a slide gate slidable substantially horizontally for opening and closing the gravity discharge opening therein, the tube extends substantially horizontally'through the hopper, and the tube and the lading inlet means on the center section thereof are positioned above the level of said slide gate.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the end sections are connected to the center section by bell-andspigot joints the bells whereof are formed on the ends of the center section.

6. A device according to claim 4, including an operating shaft contained in and extending longitudinally of the tube and operatively connected to the valve means, and handle means on the operating shaft inside `and adjacent at least one end of the tube and accessible through the adjoining air port on removal of the cap therefor.

7. A device according to claim 6, wherein the lading inlet means are a plurality of longitudinally aligned and spaced tubular inlets, and the valve means are batiies each xed to the operating shaft and rotatable in one of said inlets.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein the bafes are angularly disposed relative to each other for alternately closing the inlets thereof.

9. A device according to claim S, including valve means on a side of each end section intermediate the cap thereof and the adjoining side of the hopper and operative on connection of the opposite port to the vacuum discharge line and closing of the adjoining port by the cap thereof for adjustably throttling the ilow of air through the tube under force of the vacuum.

10. A device according to claim 9, wherein the valve means on the side of each end section includes radial port means in the side and an elastic sleeve encircling and slidable along said side for regulating the extent of opening of said port means, and clamp means encircling each sleeve adjacent opposite ends thereof for releasably clamping said sleeve to the side of the related end section and sealing said port means on covering thereof by said sleeve.

11. A device according to claim 10,. including sealing means on each end section engageable by the cap thereof, and means on the end section Vand cap and operative on application and rotation of the cap for camming the cap into closed position in sealing engagement with the sealing means and cooperating with the sealing means for locking the cap in said closed position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,418,302 4/ 1947 Hornbrook 302-52 3,158,406 11/1964 Aller 302-52 3,258,173 6/1966 Koranda 302-52 3,069,207 12/1962 Borger et al. 302-52 3,088,776 5/1963 Aller 302-52 ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner. 

